Oct 23: Almost 10 months after the Reserve Bank of India's regulatory ban, Paytm 's parent entity One97 Communications Limited has received the go-ahead from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to start onboarding new users onto its UPI platform. 

This approval follows NPCI's review of Paytm's request, which was submitted on August 1, 2024. The onboarding process had previously been suspended due to directives from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

In response to a letter from Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, NPCI chief Dilip Asbe confirmed receipt of the request and granted approval for One97 Communications Private Limited (OCL) to resume onboarding new UPI users, which had been halted as per RBI’s instructions in January and February 2024.

However, this approval comes with certain conditions. Paytm must adhere to specific guidelines set by NPCI, including risk management protocols, brand standards, multi-bank requirements, market share for Third-Party Application Providers (TPAP), and customer data protection. 

Additionally, Paytm needs to comply with its commitments under a tri-partite agreement with NPCI and payment service provider banks, and follow the data storage regulations established in 2018.

This development is a significant opportunity for Paytm to grow its user base on the UPI platform again. As reported by NPCI, Paytm is currently the third-largest player in the UPI market, following PhonePe and Google Pay, processing over 1 billion transactions monthly as of September.

The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led fintech also reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 950 crore for the second quarter ending September 30, 2024. 

The company's net profit received a boost from a one-time gain of Rs 1,345 crore resulting from the sale of its movie ticketing business to Zomato. 

Revenue from operations for the quarter under review increased by 11 percent to Rs 1,660 crore, compared to Rs 1,501 crore in the June 2024 quarter. EBITDA has improved from the previous quarter to Rs 404 crore.